Online Mind Mapping

#1 Mind Mapping Tool

Capture, develop and share ideas visually.

MindMeister is an online mind mapping tool that lets you capture, develop and share ideas visually. More than 10 million people already use our award-winning mind map editor for brainstorming, note taking, project planning and tons of other creative tasks. MindMeister is completely web-based, which means there's no download and no updating! Whether you're working on Windows, Mac OS or Linux, you can always access your mind maps right inside the web-browser.

10 million

creative users

1.2 billion

ideas generated

4.5 Stars

on the App Store

Collaborate Anywhere

Mind mapping in a team setting has never been easier. MindMeister lets you share your mind maps with as many friends or colleagues as you want and collaborate with them in real-time. Whether you're in a face-to-face meeting or thousands of miles apart, everyone can see changes made in the mind map immediately. Collaborators can quickly comment on topics, vote on ideas or discuss changes in our integrated chat.

Stunning Presentations

Visualizing your ideas is the most powerful way to communicate them to others. With MindMeister's built-in presentation mode you turn mind maps into beautiful, dynamic slideshows within seconds. As soon as you're done you can export the slides as PNGs, embed the whole presentation on your website, or even broadcast it live to your collaborators online.

Simple Project Management

MindMeister seamlessly integrates with MeisterTask, the intuitive online task and project management app for teams. As soon as you've completed the brainstorming and planning phase in MindMeister, you can simply drag and drop your ideas into a connected MeisterTask project, where they are turned into actionable tasks.

What Is Mind Mapping?

Mind mapping is a powerful technique that helps you visualize your thoughts and communicate them to others. What’s more, mind mapping encourages a free flow of ideas, which makes it the ideal format for brainstorming and creative problem solving sessions.

How to Mind Map

Start in the center: To make a mind map, start by writing the subject of your map in the center of a blank piece of paper or digital canvas. The subject can be a single keyword, an image, a question, or a problem that you’re trying to solve.

Add branches: Branches are lines that extend outwards from the center and symbolize the main categories or key ideas that relate to your subject. Most maps have between four and six branches, but you can add as many as you need.

Write a keyword on each branch: Use keywords and short phrases rather than long sentences. This will keep your map compact and easy to review because you will be able to see your most important ideas at a glance.

Add ideas: Each idea you map may trigger associations in your brain and spark new ideas, which you can then add in the form of child branches. There is no limit as to how many child branches or hierarchical levels you can create.

Add visuals: Enrich your map by adding colors, icons, and images to individual topics. Mind mapping software like MindMeister takes this to the next level by letting you embed videos, add notes and comments, or attach entire files such as PDFs or spreadsheets.

Why Mind Mapping?

A mind map is a visual thinking tool that has many advantages compared to traditional note taking and writing techniques. If you’re wondering why you should mind map, take a look at this list of the top mind mapping benefits:

Mind maps structure information

Mind maps are graphical representations of information that convey the relationship between individual ideas and concepts. No matter how complex or broad a subject is, a mind map brings order into the chaos and helps you see the 'bigger picture'.

Mind Maps improve memory

Mind maps utilize a number of memory triggers such as colors and images. These are much easier for your brain to memorize and recall than pure text. Additionally, mind maps help you connect new pieces of information with existing knowledge.

Mind Maps foster creativity

There are very few techniques out there that have the ability to get your creative juices flowing like mind mapping. That is because mind maps use images and keywords to create new associations within your brain, which you can also transcribe with incredible speed.

Mind maps facilitate collaboration

While traditional paper mind maps are great for developing ideas by yourself, online mind maps enable you to brainstorm with other people and plan together in real-time, no matter where people are located or which device they’re using.

Top Mind Mapping Uses

The application possibilities of mind maps are almost endless. Businesses mostly employ mind maps for strategic planning, collaboration and ideation while teachers and students use maps to visualize complex problems and drive engagement in the classroom. Here are six of the most common uses of mind maps:

Brainstorming

Mind mapping fosters a free flow of ideas and helps spark new thoughts through association. It's the perfect tool for creative brainstorming alone or in a team.

Knowledge Management

Mind Map History

Visual representations of information have been used for thousands of years. The term “mind map”, however, wasn’t around until the 1970s, when it was coined by the English researcher Tony Buzan. Buzan was searching for a way to deal with the large amounts of information he needed to memorize during his time at university. He studied the notes of the greatest thinkers he could find and combined their approaches with his own research about psychology, creative thinking and memorization. Eventually, after the first successes with his newly developed technique, he started writing a series of books on the subject. The first edition of “The Mind Map Book” appeared in 1995. Twelve years later, in 2007, the first completely web-based mind map tool was released. This tool was MindMeister, which quickly became the number one mind mapping software on the web.

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MindMeister is considered the best online mind mapping software currently on the market. With its award-winning online version and its free mobile apps for iPhone, iPad and Android, users are able to mind map at school, at home, at the office and even on the go. With MindMeister, mind mapping is so simple and intuitive that anyone from first grader to CEO can use it to improve their productivity and turn their creative ideas into action. MindMeister offers a number of powerful features that let users collaborate and brainstorm online, plan projects, develop business strategies, create dynamic presentations and utilize the countless benefits of mind maps for their education. To this end, MindMeister provides great student and teacher discounts, and even offers free accounts with up to ten mind maps in total that provide all the features you need for a simple yet powerful mind mapping experience.